Everyday Finesse

We planted our Late Winter/Early Spring Garden! Hooray! I really don't know what to call it but I do know that it is time for the cooler weather crops like lettuce, broccoli, greens, onions and peas. Gardens never look very exciting at first, do they?

Thanks to the weather that suddenly turned beautiful and dried up a bit, we were able to get into the garden and till, then plant. It really didn't take very much time. I guess I can say that, because I really didn't spend too much time in the garden. My gardening partners, my husband and my sister did most of the work and it really looks good.

We planted some of the seeds we had purchased at the end of the season last year, planted some saved seeds and bought some plants. All in all, I feel rather proud of us. Only problem is, our fence didn't work when we tested it. If we can keep the critters out until we fix it I think things will be fine. Lesson Learned: Check the equipment before you plant!

Here's the rundown on what we have planted.

We had mostly leftover carrots and we just planted them in rows. The varieties are Chatenay, Danvers Half Long, and Bolero Nantes (French carrots). We have never been very successful with carrots but this year we vow to thin them. We have never done that before.

Radishes, Early Scarlet Globe and Cherry Belle.

Spinach, Long Standing. We haven't been too successful with spinach so far but this is a new variety.

We really mixed up the lettuce. We had a wide row filled with mixed lettuce seeds, mostly Italian Mixture, also Great Lakes Head Lettuce, Ashley (a red variety), Flame (red) Royal Oakleaf and Little Gem. We also bought lettuce plants, mostly Buttercrunch and Romaine with a couple of varieties of Head Lettuce.

We planted a wide row of Dwarf Siberian Kale. We love kale. We planted a wide row of Mixed Greens that included, Turnip, Mustard, and Rape seeds. This is a very good mixture of greens for us and usually grows well. We have a nice wide row of greens.

For the peas, we had some leftover Oregon Giant Sugar Pods, Alaska Peas and we planted a nice long row of Sugar Snap Peas. I like the pods best but my family really likes the peas you shell. I hope we have both.

In addition to the lettuce plants we purchased broccoli, red and green cabbage, a few collards and Georgia Sweet and Red onions. We also bought a pot of cilantro because that is an herb that seems to prefer milder weather and last year we planted it a bit late. I hope we have a better crop this year.

That is all my garden news. We are now waiting for things to grow and shooing away animals until the fence is mended